


Picnics and Pranks

by OnceFutureEmrys



Series: My Merlin Bingo Fills 2021 [3]
Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: Court Sorcerer Merlin (Merlin), Everyone knows and supports magic, F/M, Fluff and Crack, Good Morgana (Merlin), Gwen and Morgana being besties, M/M, just some cute fun shit, merlin and arthur being lovable dumbasses, what we deserved from the show
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-11
Updated: 2021-03-11
Packaged: 2021-03-15 07:48:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,001
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29930235
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/OnceFutureEmrys/pseuds/OnceFutureEmrys
Summary: Gwen, Merlin, and Arthur shop and have a picnic. And there's a prank involved.That's literally the story.
Relationships: Gwen & Morgana (Merlin), Gwen/Arthur Pendragon (Merlin), Gwen/Merlin (Merlin), Gwen/Merlin/Arthur Pendragon (Merlin), Merlin/Arthur Pendragon (Merlin)
Series: My Merlin Bingo Fills 2021 [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2167410
Kudos: 6
Collections: Camelove 2021, Merlin Bingo





	Picnics and Pranks

**Author's Note:**

> Hello! This is for Camelove and for my Merlin Bingo fill. This literally took me years to edit just because of the amount of times I got distracted, but hopefully it's okay! Please let me know if there is an error somewhere and I would be more than happy to fix it. Thanks so much for reading!

  
It’s early in the morning when Arthur is, as per usual, dragged out of bed.

Usually, Arthur understands quite clearly why he needs to get up (even if he resents it with a passion). He is the king of Camelot after all, he has many duties and responsibilities he just cannot ignore. But, this was one of his days he was allowed to sleep in. Merlin had reworked his schedule specifically so that he could have a relaxing, stress-free day before the usual onslaught of demanding work kicked in. Arthur would never say it, but he was eternally grateful. 

Arthur was planning on catching up on some much-needed sleep before possibly venturing outside his chambers. Perhaps if he did such a thing, he would stop by the lower towns to say hello, chat with some of the locals, grab a quick drink at the tavern, and then finish his day with a handsome dinner, a lovely warm bath freshly washed clothes, a fire lit in the corner, and his head resting very gently on his clean, very well-made, bed. 

Of course, as Arthur should have most obviously guessed, his court sorcerer and the most powerful man had to ruin it.

“Merlin, why on Earth am I getting dragged out of my bed on the _one day I get to sleep in_ ,” Arthur grumbles, attempting to push away Merlin’s arms. Unfortunately, Merlin used to be his servant and is used to his usual tricks. So in no less than two minutes, he’s forcibly dragged out of bed.

“And since when did you become my servant again?”

“Ask Gwen,” Merlin responds, ignoring the second question as he hands him a red tunic and dark pants for him to change into.

“This is Gwen’s idea?” Merlin nodded his head. “And you agreed to it?”

Merlin shrugs. “I’ll agree to anything that annoys you.”

“You’re incorrigible. I thought you were meant to be on my side.”

Merlin sent him a baffled look. “Whoever said I was on your side?”

Arthur finishes changing and sits down to eat. Of course, he knows that some of his blueberries have been stolen, as per always, but he never minds. Merlin has always been uncomfortably skinny -- maybe stealing from him finally gives him some sort of excuse to eat.

“What were you planning on your big day off, anyway,” Merlin asks. “Learning how not to be a prat anymore?”

“Anything that doesn’t require working with you is a better use of my time,” Arthur counters. “Besides, what were you planning on doing? Practicing the difficult art form of not being a complete and utter fool anymore?”

“I’m not as much of a fool as you think I am, sire.”

“Just more annoying then.”

They continued their meals with their usual banter, Arthur mentally accepting whatever pain and misery Gwen was planning on giving him this time around. Most would say that Gwen was one of the sweetest and kindest people in Camelot, and they were right, but what most people had never known, was that Gwen was also the most devilish. She had become incredibly good at pranking just about everyone and she was a type of ruthless that made everyone shake in their boots. Honestly, Arthur was just happy to be along for the ride sometimes. 

Speaking of the devil herself, “Good morning,” she excitedly announces, barging into his chambers. “How are my two favorite people doing today?” Merlin and Arthur turn to look at Gwen and their jaws hang open instantly. 

Gwen looks absolutely stunning. Well, Merlin and Arthur had known that their entire life, but sometimes, in the early mornings when the sunlight streaming from Arthur’s window hits Gwen at such an angle where it seems her brown eyes sparkle and her crown shimmers proudly as if she were born to wear it, that they sometimes forget how to breathe. 

She laughs at their reactions and Arthur and Merlin blush, closing their mouths. Arthur swallows, reminds himself that he is the king of bloody Camelot, and straightens in his chair. “Ah yes, well I was doing wonderfully. That was before I was so rudely dragged out of bed by my no-good court sorcerer and forced into some plans that I didn’t ask for.” Gwen merely grins, unable to control her excitement. “At least tell me you have a plan?”

“Well, I was thinking of going to the lower towns. I’ve been needing a few new dresses and I’m sure the two of you can find something decent to wear.” Gwen eyes Merlin’s clothing — one of two pairs of clothing he wears every single day -- and raises her eyebrows. Merlin seems a bit ashamed but just shrugs his shoulders. (Arthur had given him many different outfits to try on — he was the court sorcerer, he had to dress like it -- but Merlin had refused and said if anyone tried to undermine him simply because he was wearing commoner clothing, well… then Merlin would do something to them. Arthur had found that Merlin was not the best at threatening people and so had just decided to seem scared by the prospect and let the matter drop entirely). 

“And after that,” Gwen continues, ignoring how uncomfortable the two had gotten about clothes shopping. “I was thinking we could take a picnic and enjoy some time together! What do you think?”

Merlin and Arthur both eye Gwen and then each other as if fearing this is all some ludicrous trap for one of her evil pranks. After all, just a couple of days ago, they had managed to finally prank both Gwen and Morgana by magically turning them both into babies. The people had surely never seen the knights of Camelot face-off two babies, that was for sure.

“Are you sure that’s it,” Merlin asks, narrowing his eyes at her.

“But of course.” She sends them one of her most innocent-looking faces that look anything but. “What else could I possibly want from you both?”

“I’m not sure Gwen,” Arthur bites, knowing full well that Gwen would want to get back at them after they had successfully pranked her. “We won’t know unless you tell us.”

“Well, I _am_ telling you. Very clearly, if I do say so myself, that there is, in fact, nothing happening other than a very nice date with my two favorite people.” Merlin and Arthur continue to stare at her and she merely laughs. “Come on boys, I don’t have all day now.” Before they can respond, she turns and walks back out the door.

“That was very strange,” Merlin comments.

“I’ll say.”

“Should we still go along with it?”

“Do we have any other choice?”

“True, true,” Merlin agrees. “I guess we should just get it over with then.”

“Yes, I believe so,” Arthur says. “I just hope the humiliation won’t be too bad.”

* * *

Merlin and Arthur are wary the entire way down to the courtyard.

They constantly look over their shoulders (at one point, Merlin looked down at his own arse to make sure there was nothing written there -- Arthur found this funny but eventually did it himself when the overthinking became incessant), they peak around every corner, they look up at the ceilings and down at their feet in a weird pattern to make sure they don’t miss anything. They most certainly look like idiots -- the servants are staring at them and the knights just raise their eyebrows at their antics. They would feel embarrassed if they were not already deadly terrified.

Gwen gives them an amused look when the two bumbling dollopheads look both ways before crossing to meet her, eyeing the sky as if prepared for a giant animal to attack them. “Having a bit of trouble over there,” Gwen teased. “You both seem distracted.”

“Shut up, Gwen,” they say at the same time, eliciting a laugh from her. Arthur can’t help but think that, for someone with such a devilish personality, she has a beautiful, angelic laugh. 

“Well, come on then, we don’t have all of the time in the world.”

Merlin and Arthur groaned at the thought of spending hours and hours looking through different clothing and jewelry that they were not passionate about. If this was Gwen’s punishment for their pranks, then it was certainly working. 

Gwen immediately sets her eyes on a small clothing shop that offers modest dresses. The shop was near the end of the lower town, hidden in a little corner of the street. It was decorated in different colored flowers and magical illustrations were hung on the wall. The shop felt… warm. That was the best description Arthur could give. It was no wonder Gwen loved this shop so much.

She gasps at the different designs, laying a hand onto each dress, testing the softness of each of them. She sighs as she twirls around with one of them in her hand, a feeling of joy emanating from her entire aura. 

Arthur and Merlin can’t help but watch as she giggles with the owners and listens enthusiastically to one of their daring tales. Soon, she’s gone behind the dressing curtains and she’s trying every dress she has — from a flowery light blue dress that brightens her spirit, to a dark crimson dress that shows off her perfect curves. Merlin and Arthur watch in amusement as she continues to flaunt these dresses, a look of adoration in their eyes.

After an hour or so, Gwen squeals and makes a beeline towards another small area of the shop. Merlin groans as soon as he spots what she’s looking for and looks like he’s about to run. There, placed delicately on a glass round table, sits at least a dozen different types of scarves. Some with modest cloth, others from finer silk; some with little decorations, others with nothing but jewelry of some shape and form attached to them. 

“Gwen,” Merlin whines but she’s already dragging him towards one of them and handing a scarf over towards him. He slumps his shoulders before taking the scarf from Gwen’s hands. It’s dark purple with gems glittering on the bottom of it. 

“What do you think?” Merlin showed off the scarf, making sure to dramatically spin in a circle to show them the full view.

“Oh, you look so adorable,” Gwen purrs, slightly adjusting the scarf.

“Ooh, I’m not sure about that…”

“Shush it, Merlin, you look splendid!”

Gwen continues to giggle over him, causing Merlin to blush a brilliant red. Arthur just rolls his eyes. While admittedly Merlin does look quite adorable — he’s got a cheeky grin on his face which embellishes his cheekbones, his blue eyes wide and innocent remind Arthur of cute puppies — Arthur would never want to admit that. 

“What do you think, Arthur,” Merlin asks, looking at Arthur square in the eyes.

Arthur tries to shrug as if he doesn’t care, but he can tell Merlin knows he’s lying if his grin is anything to go by. He immediately glares but he can tell his glare is weak. “It’s alright,” he says finally, but he can’t stop the small smile that infiltrates his tight, unbreakable mask. Merlin’s grin somehow widens and Arthur’s mind reminds him that this is, in fact, the most beautiful man he’s ever laid eyes on. 

It takes them a moment to buy their chosen clothes (Gwen attempts to bribe Arthur into buying a nice dark shirt, but Arthur glares and Gwen decides to let the topic drop reluctantly), but finally, they are able to leave the shop. They gaze in awe at the children playing in the center, magic bursts coming through their fingers. Merlin stops at one point to teach them a simple fire spell and the children watch him with their mouths wide open as it sparkles in Merlin’s hands. Arthur can’t help but smile at the scene before him, mesmerized by the light show and by Merlin’s ability. Even with a small spell, Arthur can feel the raw power that emanates from the tips of his fingers.

But soon, they wave goodbye to the many families and children that approached them, leaving Camelot to head towards the forest. The difference between the loud, chaotic, crowded lower town and the quiet peacefulness of the forest is almost jarring. Arthur takes a moment to breathe in a breath of fresh air. While he loves his people, sometimes he needs his own break from the wild adventures and the ugly violent wars.

Gwen lays down a Camelot Red blanket (one he remembers Merlin knitting for Gwen for her birthday one year) before reaching into her basket and retrieving a small feast filled with divine sweets and delicious meats. Merlin and Arthur gasp at the contents, looking between the enticing smell and Gwen in wonder. 

Their stomachs growl and they have half a mind to start gobbling up the contents in that second, damned of all the consequences. But then their gut tells them something is amiss and they remember the reason they were so wary of this trip.

They eye the food suspiciously, narrowing their eyes at Gwen. Gwen looks puzzled, raising her eyebrows at them curiously.

“What did you put in it,” Merlin asks first.

She has the nerve to roll her eyes at them. “Nothing, I would never poison either of you.”

“Alright, what enchantment then?”

“For God’s sake, there’s nothing in there!”

Arthur scoffs at the remark. “Do you think we’re that stupid, Gwen?”

“You honestly surprise me with your stupidity sometimes.”

“Gwen—”

“There’s nothing in there, I promise,” she says. She takes a bite of every piece of food -- from the blueberries and apples to the cooked chicken and even takes a large sip of her ale -- and looks at them smugly. “Does that prove it to you?”

Merlin and Arthur look at each other, then at Gwen staring playfully at them, wiggling her eyebrows. They shrug, accepting the evidence, and jump straight into the meal. Gwen just smiles, taking a plate and piling different types of fruits and sweets. They expect her to eat regally, almost as if she were still Queen, but instead, she eats just as l messily as they do — mustaches from drinks and chocolate stains on her cheek. The three eat as if there’s no one there to watch them; if any of Arthur’s advisors had walked in on them, they would have been appalled to see the king of Camelot talking with his mouth full or the Queen and the Court Sorcerer having a burp competition. 

When they’re finished and Merlin has magically cleaned themselves up, they sit comfortably together, laying on their backs as they watch the sky. 

“I wish every day could be like today,” Merlin sighs, plucking a dandelion from the grass. Arthur watches in pure bliss as this beautiful man who Arthur’s so very lucky to have, blows on a dandelion, the tufts falling around them. He grins up at Arthur and Gwen and the look of pure, raw, happiness fills Arthur with so much joy he wants to hold Merlin close and never let him go. 

Arthur looks down, sighing as well. “Yeah, me too. Even though I’ve known since birth what was to happen to me,” he pauses, taking a deep breath, “I still can’t help but wish I could just… run away once, from all of it. I love what I do, what I am _capable_ of doing,” Arthur adds in. “I just sometimes wish I could have… days when I didn’t need to be… on all the time. When I can just be Arthur and not King Arthur Pendragon of Camelot or the Once and Future King.”

“Yes,” Gwen agrees, “Sometimes I miss the days when there weren’t so many expectations on me. It was so much more freeing to be a servant than to be… anything else.”

“Do you ever regret becoming Queen?” Arthur quietly asks her, a question he’s been dreading asking her.

“Oh gods no,” Gwen immediately says, ruffling Arthur’s hair. “I mean sure, sometimes I wish we had that moment where we could run away and live on that farm and live that pointless, normal life that we had talked about.”

“But I don’t think I could ever give up being Queen so easily. Not for the fame or the riches or anything,” she quickly adds. “I just… love the idea that I’m making a difference in people’s lives. That I’m actually helping people. I’ve seen so much suffering my entire life, I’ve _experienced_ so much suffering in my life.” She smiles to herself. “It’s nice knowing that I am making a real difference in people’s lives.”

Arthur can’t help but beam at this wonderful woman he loves so very much. “And that, my dear,” he says, lightly kissing the back of her hand, “is why I married you.” She giggles and Arthur laughs, a feeling of lightness and calmness and love filling his stomach and lifting his spirits. 

“Well, how about you Merlin,” Gwen suddenly asks. “I’m sure none of this is easy for you. I know how much you hate the spotlight.” She thinks for a moment before hesitantly asking, “Do you ever regret coming to Camelot?”

Merlin shrugs, immediately saying, “Well I mean, who would want to work for Arthur?” She laughs and Arthur huffs.

“Well, it’s not like I asked for an incompetent fool like you to become my servant.”

“But you’re glad I did, right?” Arthur glares and Merlin smiles cheekily.

Comfortable silence fills the forest and Merlin absentmindedly watches as a butterfly lands on his fingers.

“Honestly,” he finally says. “Before everyone found out… there were moments when I did regret coming here. Even now, after everyone’s found out, I sometimes find myself missing my home. I miss being invisible to others, I miss not knowing of my destiny and not knowing of all of my responsibilities.” His eyes suddenly glow and a beautiful picture shimmers from his hands, mimicking events that he had experienced in Ealdor. “I miss my mother. I miss the warm kisses she would give me and her cooking, no matter how god awful it was. I miss Will. I miss messing with the neighbors with my magic together, I miss laughing and talking to the early mornings of dawn. He was the first friend of mine who I had and who accepted me and it’s hard to forget that.” 

“But,” Merlin starts. “I wouldn’t be the person I am today if I had never come.” He smiles wistfully as he floods new memories — ones of him and Arthur messing around, him and Gwen picking flowers, of him and Gaius teaching Morgana magic, of him and Gwaine pranking the other knights. The memories move, flying around them from trees to bushes and then seeping into the grass. One flies close to Arthur and he reaches out to touch one of them, distinctly hearing the memory — of Arthur and Merlin’s banter, of Merlin laughing and crying the first day they had repealed the magic ban. It feels warm and happy and _alive_ and Arthur loves how private this moment is; how this just seems like a part of him that Arthur is so lucky to see. 

“So no,” Merlin finally says when the memories have flooded into the Earth. “I don’t regret coming to Camelot. I honestly think I would regret it even more if I had never come.” He pauses then says, playfully, “No matter how much of a pompous arrogant arsehole Arthur is.” 

“Oi,” Arthur says indignantly but he’s grinning and so is Gwen and then they’re hugging him. Gwen gives him warm kisses on his cheek and Arthur is ruffling his hair and Arthur thinks that this day couldn’t get any better. 

And he was right. Nothing would get any better than this moment because right after that, everything went downhill.

Well, not for Gwen. Her day went from great to absolutely fantastic.

No, Gwen was laughing her arse off as Merlin and Arthur nonchalantly walked through the entrance into Camelot. Suddenly the bustling city stopped altogether, many staring at them with wide eyes and hands covering their mouths. It was eerily quiet besides a couple of coughs that Arthur soon realized sounded more like covered up laughs. 

“What?” Arthur is extremely confused. And then he looks at Merlin and gasps. Merlin’s already looking at him with a hint of amusement and panic.

Merlin’s a lot… _larger_ than usual. His cheeks are puffed up and his stomach looks even larger than that one time he was hiding rope under his jacket. It was only then that he noted the obvious: his entire skin is dark blue. He looks like a… blueberry...which Arthur is quickly realizing Merlin ate quite a few of those. 

Arthur goes to say something when he starts… _braying_. Merlin can’t help it anymore and bursts out laughing. Arthur has never seen a laughing blueberry but my God… he tries to chuckle, but halfway through he starts braying again. He reaches up to scratch his hair only to find two hairy ears sticking out. Suddenly the entire Camelot is laughing and Merlin and Arthur realize what’s happened.

“Morgana,” Merlin and Arthur (attempts) to say.

They turn to look behind them and see the familiar sorceress holding her sides as she points and laughs at them.

Arthur brays indignantly and Merlin seems shocked. 

“When did you have time to do this!”

“When you both decided to eat the food,” Gwen says, cackling.

“But… but Gwen tested all of the food and she’s not turning into anything!”

“Because, _idiot_ ,” Morgana says, rolling her eyes, “I made the enchantment only affect men.” She and Gwen laugh even harder at their stunned faces.

Arthur points hysterically at his donkey ears and brays confusedly. Merlin seems to understand him somehow and asks, “We didn’t even eat any donkey! How did he turn into one?”

“Oh,” Morgana laughs and Arthur attempts to glare menacingly. By her smirking face, it seems it did not do the trick. “Yes, that was just for my own amusement.”

Arthur points at his throat and Morgana huffs. “Fine,” and then she’s waving her arms, muttering some strange words, and Arthur can feel his throat clearing as if he was finally able to cough up what was stuck in there. 

As soon as he can speak again, he growls at Merlin. “How did you not know that it was enchanted?”

Blueberry Merlin (a phrase Arthur never thought he would think) smiled warily, taking a step back in fear. “I-I was… hungry?” Arthur glares so fiercely and Merlin shrinks in himself. 

“Merlin, you’re supposed to be the most powerful sorcerer in the entire world!”

“Yes, the most powerful sorcerer,” Merlin says, “who was also very hungry.”

“I don’t believe this. I can’t believe you didn’t even test to see if it was magic!”

“I’m sorry, I was hungry!”

“How can you be an even bigger idiot when you’re hungry?”

They continue arguing, ignoring the amused crowd surrounding them or Gwen and Morgana’s smug looks, fist-bumping at their victory.

“Looks like we’ve done it again,” Gwen says.

“Can’t say I’m surprised,” Morgana replies. “We’re up against two idiotic dumb children.”

“True, it was never really a challenge.”

“I can’t imagine the same in the relationship,” Morgana says smugly, causing Gwen to choke on her laughter. “But seriously, it can’t be easy dealing with those two idiots.”

They watch as said two idiots are in the middle of a brawl that ends very quickly with Merlin pushing Arthur lightly to the side. Arthur growls and then forcibly pushes Merlin so hard that they’re falling onto the ground. While Arthur is fine, Merlin, unfortunately, was not so lucky, because he’s suddenly bleeding a blueish purple color. Surprisingly, this does not seem to even phase Merlin. They continue bickering and Gwen rolls her eyes exasperatedly. “Yeah they certainly make it hard,” she finally says as she shakes her head, smiling fondly at the two. “But they’re worth it.”


End file.
